


The Littlest Things

by ButterflyBunny



Series: Avengers' Infinite Playlist [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bathtubs, Bubble Bath, Domestic, Domestic Avengers, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Protective Steve Rogers, Romance, Songfic, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-04
Updated: 2016-03-04
Packaged: 2018-05-24 15:51:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6158709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButterflyBunny/pseuds/ButterflyBunny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve is gone and Tony is on the edge of a nervous breakdown.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Littlest Things

_[(Halo - Beyoncé)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnVUHWCynig) _

  

He had't been able to sleep good for days.

In part because he had been working on the Ironman armour late nights and in part because Steve had been sent to god knows where almost three weeks ago and he hadn't heard from him. He had manage to distract himself at least, between working on the lab and his new training sessions with Natasha or Clint whenever they were available.

It seemed that the whole tower had noticed he was actually really concern about Steve, because they all tried to keep his mind busy, since Bruce was gone for at leat a month, Vision spent time in the lab with him instead, even Jane Foster joined them sometimes, Jane who had moved back to New York saying she needed a little bit of a break after moving over and over for almost five years to Thor's delight, to his own delight too since he liked Jane very much. Wanda was always asking him about his work, they watch movies together and she was always taking him food and also making sure he ate all of it, which he did of course, the little witch was a really good cook, he said it so often that Clint had started to act a little jealous. Pietro invited him to go to the gym with him and Rhodey, who had been staying with them for the past weeks.

He had returned from one of those "Pepper needed me to go and look serious" meetings he hated so much and didn’t missed at all. It had been almost three hours of people arguing about who knows what, he stopped paying attention about fifteen minutes into the fervent discussion he was clearly not part of, ignoring the glares he got from Pepper.

When he returned home he locked himself in his room not waiting to do anything but sleep, he didn't even want coffee and that was saying something. Instead of resting though, he pulled out his tablet and continued working on the armour he had been busy on. Vision had helped him a lot more than Stephen Strange had, the man had done nothing else that plat doubts into his head to be honest.

There was a knock on the door, he had told FRIDAY to keep everyone away from his room but it had been useless since the AI announced her protocols were being rewritten. He was about to complain when Steve entered the room.

He looked like absolute shit. His left cheek bruised and his hair a mess, the uniform he was wearing was wrinkle and he looked like he had slept on the quinjet on his way home. Still, it was a sight to behold. He would have ran to him and kissed him but he restrained himself of doing such a dramatic thing.

"Hey" Steve smiled softly, dropping the bag he had in his shoulder on the floor.

"Steve" Tony blinked at him.

"Clint said you were here and not in the lab" he said, "I thought you were sleeping"

Tony chuckled, "I was working" he pointed at the tablet.

"I can see that" Steve walked towards him and sat next to him.

He kissed him then, deeply, like they hadn't seen each other in years and Tony felt that was the case. Steve wanted to ask if he had missed him because for Steve it had been all he had done while he was away.

"I missed you" Tony touched his arms and chest, like he was checking he was real.

Steve smiled against his lips, "I missed you too"

Tony nodded and ran his thumb softly against his cheek, "What happened?"

"Some idiot threw the shield at me" he answered and then laughed, "it is actually really painful"

Tony chuckled, "Anyone broken?"

Steve shook his head, "Sam had a concussion but apart from that he seems fine"

Tony nodded.

Steve kissed him again. He stood up and Tony went back to his tablet.

"I am dying for a shower" Steve said, "and real food, not canned stuff"

"I think Wanda is in charge of dinner again"

“Clint must be devastated” Steve said and they both chuckled.

When Steve started undressing was when Tony finally took his eyes off the Stark tablet he had in his hands. His mouth felt suddenly dry and even though he opened his mouth to say something he wasn't able to. Maybe it was the way his abdomen was more than well marked or the way his arm muscles moved when he pulled his shirt over his head. Steve looked up at him while toeing his shoes off one by one slowly, there was a frown in his face but it quickly disappeared and a small smile form from his lips, that's when Tony was finally able to snap out of whatever trance he was in.

"Can I use your tub?" Steve asked, somewhat shyly, "I had mine taken away since I needed space for my art supplies" he explained.

Tony blinked and finally nodded after a few beats. Steve smiled and then entered the bathroom. The older man took a hand to his chest wondering if he was having a heart attack, and maybe he was having one and hallucinations because Steve had just teased him. Right in front of his face. If that was the case maybe it had also been an invitation.

He considered it for a few seconds, throwing the tablet aside and standing from the bed slowly.

Steve was on the shower when he pushed the door open softly, and it was one of those moments when Tony wondered if he had been that good in his past life to deserve someone like Steve or maybe he was just really lucky in this life.

Steve looked at him and smiled softly.

"I thought you were using the tub" Tony said, leaning against the doorframe, his hands on his pockets.

He was still wearing the suit from the meeting Pepper had told Steve the man had spent almost all day. Wrinkled now, his feet naked against the floor tile, his tie was still hanging lose around his neck and the sleeves were rolled up, he looked tired, yes, but for Steve, it was one of those times when he realised how handsome Tony Stark really was. He bit the inside of his bottom lip softly when he felt the familiar warmth of arousal pooling on his belly.

_Thank god the water was cold._

"It was taking to long to fill" he explained.

Tony entered the bathroom and Steve took a deep breath in. But instead on joining him in the shower Tony walked towards the tub and sat on the edge.

"Yeah" he said, "The tub is too big"

Steve was standing under the shower looking at him dumbly and Tony raised and eyebrow at him, he looked away and Tony noticed he felt embarrased all of sudden. It didn't stop him from following the water that ran down through his body, his eyes stopping to admire his butt. Tony is just a man for christ's sake. He adjusted the front of his pants on the sly and turned to pour some soap on the water. He started playing with the bubbles forming on the surface of the water distractingly. The faint smell of lavender filling his nostrils, he wasn't a fan of it, but Pepper had bought them for him for christmas and he felt like it was something Steve would like.

He jumped when the man put a hand on his knee.

"Sorry" Steve whispered, because for some reason he was whispering.

Tony shrugged and stood up. He had an idea of how he looked, he had about two hours of sleep and he had fallen asleep on the suit. Steve was looking at him with a small frown, and Tony felt that he was making unconfortable, that was the last thing he wanted, to make Steve feel pressured to anything. He ran a hand through his face and then sighed.

"I leave you to it" he said, he kissed Steve's lips and then walked towards the door.

That's when Steve grabbed his hand and stopped him.

The smell of lavender filled his nostrils making him feel somehow dizzy, but it could have been the fact that he had Tony fixing a bath for him, looking sexily tousled while he did it. He noticed Tony had stiffened when he held his hand, it was one of those times when Steve didn't know what was going through the genius' head at all, when he felt Tony was running from him, shutting him out.

"Do you... Would you join me?" He stammered, looking into the older man's eyes.

"Wh-" Tony took a deep shaky breath in, "I... Yeah" he nodded, "Sure"

There was a sight of relief from both ends. And Steve managed to chuckled despite himself.

Tony pulled from the tie, taking it off, that's when Steve's fingers bumped against his’ and he started unbuttoning his shirt. Tony let him, his eyelids suddenly feeling heavy and Steve might have noticed because he chuckled softly.

"I had like two hours of sleep" Tony explained.

"I imagined" Steve nodded, "Did you eat something?" He asked.

"I did" Tony said, "Vision is my witness" he added when Steve hummed.

The man hesitated before unbuttoning his pants so Tony undid them himself, pulling the underwear alongside with them and Steve swallowed. Tony didn't notice since he was pulling the undershirt over his head.

"It smells good" Steve said looking back at the giant tub.

He took the towel he had hanging around his hips and entered the bathtub, his muscles relaxing at the touch of warm water. He sighed happily and then looked at Tony.

"It kinda makes me sleepy" Tony admitted, entering the bathtub after him.

And he did look sleepy, which made Steve smile softly. The older man groaned when his back entered the hot water.

"I'm sending a thank you letter to the tubmakers"

Steve chuckled, "tubmakers" he said.

Tony looked at him and smiled, pressing his back against Steve's body. In another time it would have been more sexual than anything, Steve knew that and Tony knew that, but right now they were both more tired than anything. Still, it was nice.

"This is nice" Steve whispered, his fingers playing with Tony's hair.

"Mmm" Tony nodded, leaning his head into his fingers, "talk to me" he asked, "if I fall asleep I might drown"

"FRIDAY put on some music from my playlist" Steve said, "The last thing I listened to"

" _Playing "At Last" by Etta James_ "

Steve nodded and Tony sighed happily.

"We should do this more often" Steve continued.

"Agree" Steve grabbed a sponge and started wetting Tony's chest.

He had noticed that the man had more muscle as soon as he took his shirt off, then remembered that Maria had told him that Natasha and Clint had been training him since Pepper asked then to keep him distracted. Apparently there had been a lot of trouble in the company and Tony had been taking most of the heat for no apparent reason. He asked Jane about it and she said that it had been because Tony had started working on a fund for injured war veterans and not many people agreed.

"I saw Joy" Tony said.

"How is she?"

"She's the grumpiest baby I've ever met" Tony chuckled and Steve followed.

Tony started talking, more like babbling about the child and then ended up talking about Jane and Darcy, the last one who had been spending a lot of time with Sam Wilson. Steve just nodded and chuckled when Tony laughed softly about his own jokes.

"Did you fall asleep?" Tony asked suddenly, "don't fall asleep, we are naked in a tub, it would be a slap to my ego if you do"

“I’m not asleep” Steve said, he wanted to say something about the fact that he was half hard under the water but dirty jokes that were actually funny didn’t occur to him as easily as they came for Tony, "I was listening to you" he said, leaving a kiss on Tony's shoulder and pulling him closer to him.

“Mm” Tony nodded, and he could feel Steve against his back, he was in the same situation but didn’t want to ruin the moment with some dirty joke, "The water is cold" Tony mentioned, still he leaned into his embrace.

"I don't mind"

Tony chuckled. He noticed Steve jerked back a little bit when he elbowed his ribs accidentally. He then remembered that he had been on a mission until a few hours ago.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Tony asked, "i didn't-"

"I am now" Steve answered, his chin on the man's shoulder.

"You are such a sap" Tony whispered and they chuckled.

"I know" Steve shrugged, "I am really fine" he added.

Tony nodded, "I love you, Steve"

Steve pulled back and looked at Tony. He nodded at him and cupped his face, pulling him into a kiss.

"I love you too, Tony" Steve whispered.

They were out of the tub a few minutes later. They dried under eachother's gazes and didn't bother to dress before falling into the bed wearing only underwear. Steve laid on the bed scratching his eyes soflty, Tony crawled the bed and laid on Steve's chest. Never in his life he thought that he would miss sleeping with someone else in his bed. But he missed the warmth of Steve's body, the now familiar soud of his breathing agains his back or sometimes against his neck. He kissed his neck and Steve returned the kiss softly.

He waited a few minutes until Steve's breathing was slower, a clear sign that he had fallen asleep. It still took him a while to be able to fall asleep, ever since the surgery he had trouble with it, but since Steve slept in his bed he managed to sleep profoundly once he was able to.

"Go to sleep, Tony" Steve murmured.

"Trying"

"Do you want me to tell you a bed time story?"

Tony shrugged, "Why not"

Steve chuckled and then he hummed. "Did I ever told you about my trip to Coney Island with Bucky?"

Tony shook his head, "Do tell me"

It was the first time Steve mentioned his friend Bucky Barnes without a sad tone, this time there was more of a happy look in his eyes, the ones you are suppose to get when you are remembering good times. Tony might never now what Bucky Barnes meant for Steve, but the fact that he was mentioning him gave him a little insight to what it was.

"Let me start by saying I knew it was a bad idea to ride something called _the cyclone_ after eating two hot dogs"

Tony laughed and Steve rolled his eyes, he then started telling his story between slurred words and tired eyes but he didn't stopped until Tony had fallen asleep.

He stared at the man next to him for a while. Fast asleep was the best way to appreciate him and that Steve knew very well. He also knew very well the muscles in his back, his head resting on his arms, hair all messy and the mouth he had now kissed plenty of times. He noticed the wrinkles around his eyes and on each side of his mouth were more pronounced, like he had been smiling more and that filled him with some inexplicable sense of pride because he liked to think it was because of him. He kissed the naked shoulder and covered them both with a blanket.

They didn't know from the rest of the world until Natasha woke them up saying that Wanda and Clint had both made lasagna and wanted to know who did it best.

 

 

_"It's like I've been awakened, every rule I had you are breakin'... I ain't never going to shut you out..."_


End file.
